Joe Baca, a longtime Democrat who represented San Bernardino County citizens for more than 30 years as a trustee for the San Bernardino Community College District, an assemblyman, state senator and congressman, is now a registered Republican.

Baca, 68, of Fontana, changed his party affiliation on June 2, said Melissa Eickman, a spokeswoman for the San Bernardino County Elections Office.

Prior to making the switch, Baca had been a registered Democrat in San Bernardino County since January 1976, Eickman said.

Baca said Friday he and his wife thought long and hard about the decision, which he said reflects his “core Christian values” and his pro-growth, pro-business philosophy.

As a legislator, Baca said he often voted conservatively on many issues. He said he secured funding for transportation and infrastructure projects in his district, and fought to delist from the endangered species list the kangaroo rat, the Delhi Sands flower-loving fly and the Santa Ana sucker fish, all of which he said were hindering commercial development and growth in his district.

“I’ve always been very conservative in nature,” Baca said, adding that in the House of Representatives he was often accused of being a Republican and asked why he didn’t change his political party.

Baca is a former member of the Blue Dog Coalition, a congressional caucus of moderate and conservative Democrats whose members are referred to as “Blue Dogs.”

Baca said he was a Blue Dog during his entire seven-term stint as a congressman.

“It’s always difficult when you change, but it follows my core Christian values and how I voted the majority of the time I was in office,” Baca said.

The change comes in the wake of three unsuccessful runs at public office that began in 2012 with a loss to then-state Sen. Gloria Negrete McLeod, a Democrat, for a House seat, followed by an unsuccessful second bid for Congress in last year’s primary election. He then eyed the Fontana mayor’s seat, hoping to be the first Latino elected mayor in that city, but lost by a landslide to incumbent Acquanetta Warren in the November general election.

Baca decided to retire from politics after that, but made it clear he wasn’t completely closing the door on that chapter of his life.

Baca grew up in Barstow and served in the Army from 1966 to 1968. His political career began in 1979, when he was the first Latino elected to the San Bernardino Community College District board of trustees. He went on to win seats in the Assembly and state Senate before being elected to Congress and serving from 1999 to 2013 as a member of the House of Representatives.

Though Baca said he has been enjoying his newfound extra time with his grandchildren and the chance to play more golf (Baca is an avid golfer and said he plays three times a week now), he said he would consider running for public office again if the right opportunity presents itself.

Should he run for office again, Baca said he will now have a better understanding of the issues on both the Republican and Democratic sides of the political spectrum.

“If I decide to run, I have the ability to work with both sides of the aisle,” he said.

County Supervisor Curt Hagman, chairman of the San Bernardino County Republican Party, said he welcomes Baca to drop by one of the county Republican Party’s monthly meetings to discuss his views and the issues that concern him most.

“He has a great amount of political experience and has been through many campaigns himself,” Hagman said Friday of Baca. “He knows how government works, and we’d like him to participate at any level he’d like to.”

Some believe Baca’s change of heart is less about political ideology and more about strategy, and that Baca has every intention of running for office again, only this time with more support, and money, behind him.

That’s what Danny Tillman, a former Democratic candidate for the 31st Congressional District seat and a current member of the San Bernardino City Unified school board, thinks.

“I’m sure he’s going to run for Congress,” Tillman said Friday. “If he’s switching to Republican, he’s going for something big. Money has everything to do with winning a race. Everything else is secondary.”

Tillman described Baca as a “fighter” who does not like to lose, but loves politics.

Joe Nelson is an award-winning investigative reporter who has worked for The Sun since November 1999. He started as a crime reporter and went on to cover a variety of beats including courts and the cities of Colton, Highland and Grand Terrace. He has covered San Bernardino County since 2009. Nelson is a graduate of California State University Fullerton. In 2014, he completed a fellowship at Loyola Law School's Journalist Law School program.